With so many deplorable racist actions by the police finally receiving media attention as widespread as their corrupt policies, my political cartoonist friend, Dark Matter, felt the need to protest. This disturbing cartoon is the result of her personal protest against the insanity of this reality. Yesterday, some friends and I were out and about at a neighborhood art function called Last Thursday. The Alberta neighborhood of Portland is full of talented artists and they display and sell their wares on the street during this event. The event always draws a huge, and diverse, crowd because NE Portland, while still segregated, is still a bit more integrated than the rest of the city. Yesterday was no exception. What was different was that there was a shooting at the event that left three people injured. Police cordoned off two blocks with crime tape. People were filming with camera phones as police questioned suspects who were said to “fit the description” of the perpetrator. Different rumors spread through the crowd like wildfire, one of which was that police had taken a concealed weapon from someone they were questioning, but that the person had a permit to carry it. I was horrified that someone would bring a loaded weapon to a family event where there were so many babies and small children present. However, I couldn’t help but notice that I was much more afraid of the police and their loaded weapons. What I found most hopeful about the whole thing was that the crowd seemed to collectively agree that they were not going to give fear the power to drive them indoors to the safety of their television sets—to hear the mass media version of events later. Instead, the crowd remained, filming, asking questions—actually setting up kind of a grapevine street relay of information as the situation continued to unfold. Once again, the power of art prevailed—drummers resumed drumming, guitarists resumed strumming. Despite the sudden outbreak of violence, our little world seemed to refuse to stop singing in perfect harmony, without Coca-cola. Let’s all keep watching each other’s backs.